CKLN STAYS ON THE AIR

Station originally slated to go off-air Feb. 12 gets stay of execution, Alexa Huffman reports

from Ryerson's The Eyeopener
15 FEBRUARY 2011



Ryerson-based community radio station CKLN was granted a stay on Friday, allowing it to remain on air for the time being.
The station will continue to broadcast until a federal judge determines whether the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission’s decision to revoke CKLN’s broadcasting license can be appealed by the radio station.
“Because of the submission of our materials to the court, the judge saw good reasons for the stay to be granted,” said Lauren Speers, chair of the legal defence committee at CKLN.
“The most important part was demonstrating irreparable harm from not having a stay granted,” Speers explained. “For us, it was if they pulled CKLN off the air before hearing the actual case, then it would not have an easy time getting its frequency back.”
CKLN also argued the process the CRTC used when deciding to shut down the radio station was a serious issue.
The CRTC decided to revoke CKLN’s licence after alleging the station did not meet CRTC regulations, such as filing financial returns correctly and on time.
The radio station said the CRTC didn’t use their usual procedure and brought issues from past dealings with CKLN into their decision to revoke the station’s license.